Renew provides input on national hydrogen strategy

28 Jul 2019

The Commonwealth government is developing a strategy to develop Australia’s capacity to produce and use hydrogen as a fuel. In May 2019, Renew participated in the hydrogen roundtable discussions on behalf of consumers, reminding the government and industry organisations of the need to avoid hydrogen becoming a “fig leaf” providing cover for fossil-fuel companies to continue business as usual.

– Electricity used to produce hydrogen must be renewable, so any hydrogen proponent should ensure they are scaling up the renewable industry accordingly.

– If hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels, the process must properly capture and store 100% of those fuels’ emissions as soon as operations commence.

– Piping hydrogen into homes and small businesses is uneconomic, and should not be allowed to saddle consumers with increased expenses. Efficient electric appliances are much preferable as they’re already more economic than fossil natural gas.

– Resources should not be devoted to a general-purpose hydrogen vehicle refuelling stations, as they’re inefficient and uneconomic compared to electric vehicle chargers.